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The Man Who Knew Too Little
- 316 statements
- 61 feature instances
- 45 referencing feature instances
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The Man Who Knew Too Little | comment |
A 1997 film written by Robert Farrar (adapted from his novel Watch That Man) and starring Bill Murray and Alfred Molina, which combines And You Thought It Was a Game with Mistaken for Badass.Wallace Ritchie (Murray) is an American vacationing in London, hoping to spend his birthday with his brother Jimmy (Peter Gallagher). Unfortunately, James has an important business dinner; in order to get rid of Wallace for the evening, he signs him up for an evening with the Theatre of Life, an experimental hyper-realistic audience-participation theater.Wallace receives information, via a phone call, about the character he should play; unknown to him, the calls get mixed up, and he instead receives instructions intended for a real hit-man.Wallace proceeds to ham his way through the underworld of secret agents and espionage. He almost immediately decides to break from "the script" and help the person he was ordered to kill: Lori (Joanne Whalley), a call-girl with a heart of gold who's trying to blackmail the Defence Minister she's been sleeping with. Along the way, Wally accidentally convinces his "superiors" that he's a loose cannon who knows of their devious scheme to restart the Cold War by blowing up the dignitaries at a historic peace accord. And all the while, Wallace thinks the bullets, Truth Serums, car chases and dead bodies are All Part of the Show.It should be noted that, beyond the similar titles title which is obviously a reference (and superficial plot similarities), this film has nothing to do with Hitchcock's thriller The Man Who Knew Too Much. | |
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2024-03-22T03:17:36Z | |
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Dropped link to Ghostbusters1984: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
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Dropped link to ShaggyDogStory: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little | sameAs |
The_Man_Who_Knew_Too_Little | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_1086f287 | type |
Sure, Let's Go with That | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_1086f287 | comment |
Sure, Let's Go with That: Once they witness Wallace's apparent badassery, pretty much everyone just smiles and goes along with whatever the idiot decides, thinking that kind of thing is just what crazy superspies do. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_19769f50 | type |
Defeat Means Friendship | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_19769f50 | comment |
Defeat Means Friendship: After his assassination attempts of Wallace fails for the umpteenth time, Boris gains so much respect for him that he embraces Wallace, gives him a gun of sentimental value and announces his intention to retire and become a butcher full time. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_19a5d773 | type |
They Look Just Like Everyone Else! | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_19a5d773 | comment |
They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: Wallace expects Dr. Kropotkin, the "evil torturer lady", to look the part. She doesn't. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_19a5d773 | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_19fd589b | type |
Deadly Road Trip | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_19fd589b | comment |
Deadly Road Trip: When Wallace travels to the UK, he gets involved in an international conspiracy, a hitman is sent to kill him, and he gets mugged. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_19fd589b | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_1c445e86 | type |
Poor Communication Kills | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_1c445e86 | comment |
Poor Communication Kills: The conspiracy falls apart because of their secrecy and failure to clearly communicate. One of the reasons why the main conspirators think Wallace is an American agent is that one fails to tell the other that Boris killed Spencer, not Wallace. The plumbers don't realize this either and assume Wallace killed him and wrongly reported it. Between that and Wallace's own antics, this leads them to make one assumption too many and panic. See Hoist by His Own Petard. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_1c445e86 | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_20a14df0 | type |
Wrong Genre Savvy | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_20a14df0 | comment |
Wrong Genre Savvy: Everyone who sees Wallace soon comes to the conclusion they're dealing with a master spy with an uncanny ability to survive things and see him as either a hero or a Worthy Opponent. The idea that he has absolutely no clue what is really happening and thinks it's a game is impossible for them to imagine. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_222dc873 | type |
Black Comedy | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_222dc873 | comment |
Black Comedy: Referenced and played with. Wallace Ritchie is just having fun gawking at the elaborate "sets" and the performances of his fellow "actors", but Lori interprets his light-hearted demeanor around so much death and danger as a sign that he is an emotionally-stunted hitman with a seriously depraved sense of humor. At the end where Wallace is being recruited to be an assassin, he believes they are hiring him to be an actor and offers to do the work for free for children and old people. Think about that for a moment, and you'll see why "the team" looked mildly shocked at Wally's response. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_222dc873 | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_24400cfe | type |
Not-So-Fake Prop Weapon | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_24400cfe | comment |
Not-So-Fake Prop Weapon: As Wallace believes everything is staged, he accidentally fires a real gun and almost shoots a man, thinking the gun was a prop. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_2c620f20 | type |
Cleanup Crew | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_2c620f20 | comment |
Cleanup Crew: Averted. Boris wants to use his favorite "messy" interrogation technique, but his assistants dissuade him, because "It is fun for you, but we have to clean up afterward!" | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_2dd8ee0e | type |
French Maid | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_2dd8ee0e | comment |
French Maid: Lori's costume in her introductory scene. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_2dd8ee0e | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_306b9de9 | type |
Electric Torture | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_306b9de9 | comment |
Electric Torture: Dr. Kropotkin's preferred method. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_355bc288 | type |
Lingerie Scene | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_355bc288 | comment |
Lingerie Scene: Lori's introduction shows her in lingerie. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_38869708 | type |
The Precarious Ledge | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_38869708 | comment |
The Precarious Ledge: Played with and lampshaded: "There's a hallway! We can walk." | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_392372f9 | type |
Actor Allusion | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_392372f9 | comment |
Actor Allusion: As described in the synopsis, Lori is a call girl once involved with the Defence Minister. Joanne Whalley's Star-Making Role in Scandal 1989 was as Christine Keeler, a real-life showgirl involved with, among others, John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_454fd2d | type |
Bang, Bang, BANG | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_454fd2d | comment |
Bang, Bang, BANG: "Whoa that was loud." | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_454fd2d | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_4604fd4d | type |
Worthy Opponent | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_4604fd4d | comment |
Worthy Opponent: Boris comes to feel this way about Wallace after getting thwarted enough times. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_4604fd4d | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_461038e6 | type |
Mistaken for Spies | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_461038e6 | comment |
Mistaken for Spies: Wallace is not a spy, but everyone mistakes him for one. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_461038e6 | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_479d4e5a | type |
Would Hurt a Child | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_479d4e5a | comment |
At the end where Wallace is being recruited to be an assassin, he believes they are hiring him to be an actor and offers to do the work for free for children and old people. Think about that for a moment, and you'll see why "the team" looked mildly shocked at Wally's response. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_479d4e5a | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_4cc0c6f2 | type |
TruthSerum | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_4cc0c6f2 | comment |
Truth Serum: Except no one believes Wallace when he's under the influence. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_4cc0c6f2 | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_4d6fb498 | type |
Inspector Oblivious | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_4d6fb498 | comment |
Inspector Oblivious: Wallace has no idea that he stopped a plot to bomb a peace meeting. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_537dd8fe | type |
Affably Evil | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_537dd8fe | comment |
Affably Evil: Boris Blavasky. While he may be a ruthless hit-man, it's just his job. He's very happy with his other job as a butcher, and shows great respect for Wallace when he keeps evading his assassination attempts. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_57918465 | type |
Seven Minute Lull | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_57918465 | comment |
Seven Minute Lull: Jimmy is hurriedly trying to end a phone conversation with Wallace as he tells him how much fun it is working with Lori and how he's looking forward to his next scene with her. Wouldn't you know the dinner chatter dies down just as Jimmy loudly says, "Great! Do it with the girl and have a good time!" | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_57918465 | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_5bdf025f | type |
Instant Sedation | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_5bdf025f | comment |
Instant Sedation: The contract killers' sedative pens work instantly | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_60194b82 | type |
Spanner in the Works | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_60194b82 | comment |
Spanner in the Works: Wallace represents this trope like no one else. Convinced that everything was one giant bit of role-play, Wallace manages to single-handedly convince a veteran assassin to retire and dismantles a covert international plan to escalate the Cold War, saving god knows how many people in the process. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_658f7193 | type |
Lack of Empathy | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_658f7193 | comment |
Referenced and played with. Wallace Ritchie is just having fun gawking at the elaborate "sets" and the performances of his fellow "actors", but Lori interprets his light-hearted demeanor around so much death and danger as a sign that he is an emotionally-stunted hitman with a seriously depraved sense of humor. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_658f7193 | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_675c2212 | type |
Axe Before Entering | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_675c2212 | comment |
Axe Before Entering: Used as a blatant Shout-Out to The Shining. For extra points, he uses a croquet mallet, which is similar to what Jack Torrance used in the original novel. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_675c2212 | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_67b24bc8 | type |
Why We Are Bummed: Communism Fell | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_67b24bc8 | comment |
Why We Are Bummed: Communism Fell: Sir Roger and Sergai's motivation. They were heads of British and Russian intelligence (respectively) and now they're collaborating to restart hostilities between their nations, because they have nothing else to do. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_67b24bc8 | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_71152dd | type |
One Dialogue, Two Conversations | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_71152dd | comment |
One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Ninety-four solid minutes of this trope. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_718c561 | type |
Performance Anxiety | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_718c561 | comment |
Performance Anxiety: | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_718c561 | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_73d1a356 | type |
The Noun Who Verbed | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_73d1a356 | comment |
The Noun Who Verbed: "The Man Who Knew Too Little" | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_73d1a356 | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_77063cd7 | type |
Hooker with a Heart of Gold | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_77063cd7 | comment |
Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Lori, though she insists she's not a call-girl. Even though she accepted money for sex with the Minister of Defence. Perhaps she's quibbling over doing it regularly. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_77063cd7 | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_7dbfa45b | type |
Spy Speak | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_7dbfa45b | comment |
Spy Speak: Wallace is told to "flush" Lori, i.e. kill her. Parodied shortly after when the government handlers ask Wallace if he flushed Lori and Wallace says that she went to the bathroom by herself, which they assume means she committed suicide. | |
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What Happened to the Mouse? | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_863fa679 | comment |
What Happened to the Mouse?: Wallace's sister-in-law Barbara is last seen when the police raid her house looking for Wallace. She is never shown reuniting with her husband, finding out what happened, or being released from custody. Daggenhurst's aide Hawkins disappears during the climax and isn't present when his boss and Sergei get blown up. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_87e61eb8 | type |
Germanic Depressives | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_87e61eb8 | comment |
Germanic Depressives: At Jimmy's business dinner, he goes into a speech about how warm and welcoming the German people were to him. A German businessman quips, "You sure you were in Germany?" | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_87e61eb8 | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_90dfa0d0 | type |
Noble Top Enforcer | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_90dfa0d0 | comment |
Noble Top Enforcer: Soviet assassin Boris "The Butcher" (who works part-time as an actual butcher) shows a fair amount of respect for Wallace, treats his men well, and is unhappy about being told to kill people without knowing why. Eventually, he gets a Heel–Face Turn unlike his employers. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_90dfa0d0 | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_9ac6b0c1 | type |
Sociopathic Hero | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_9ac6b0c1 | comment |
Sociopathic Hero: Viewing the events of the movie from the point of view of the actual spies can lead to a wildly different interpretation of Wallace. He comes off as an absurdly skilled (even by badass standards) rogue agent who is doing everything he does just for laughs, and that it's so easy for him, he can afford to goof around and just do whatever amuses him at the time. Among his many deeds include pretending like he's going to execute Lori for no reason whatsoever, playing with a dead body and applauding it for being so remarkably dead, and running over traffic cones while fleeing assassins, simply because he's always wanted to do it and now seemed like a good time. Basically, to those not in on the joke (everyone but Wallace), he might as well be the super-spy version of The Joker. | |
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Repeated Rehearsal Failure | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_9b030fac | comment |
Repeated Rehearsal Failure: At the beginning, Jimmy keeps rehearsing a presentation he's going to give at a business dinner that evening. He keeps flubbing one line, saying "Our greatest strength is our diversity," when it's supposed to be "Our greatest strength is our diversification." When it comes time to give the presentation for real, he messes up again and says "diversity"—but a phone call from his brother interrupts, so no one notices the flub. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_9b030fac | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_a3df8e61 | type |
And You Thought It Was a Game | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_a3df8e61 | comment |
And You Thought It Was a Game: The basis of the film. Wallace inadvertently gets tangled in a real terrorist conspiracy without realizing it, as he believes the whole thing is staged. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_a3df8e61 | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_a3f1531b | type |
Standard Snippet | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_a3f1531b | comment |
Standard Snippet: Korobeiniki, a traditional Russian folk song, features in this film. Of course, most of you know it as "The Tetris Theme". | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_b26477dc | type |
Reactive Continuous Scream | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_b26477dc | comment |
Reactive Continuous Scream: Happens when Wallace and Lori find a dead body. | |
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Did the Earth Move for You, Too? | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_b7413fda | comment |
Did the Earth Move for You, Too?: "Wow, that felt like an explosion." | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_c04619e4 | type |
Hey, Catch! | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_c04619e4 | comment |
Hey, Catch!: "You've got to see just how dead they are. They might be able to catch this!" | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_c04619e4 | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_c5ef2d50 | type |
Cringe Comedy | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_c5ef2d50 | comment |
Cringe Comedy: Many moments, but the scene where Wallace jokes about the dead body stands out in particular. From the perspective of Lori and of the audience, he's playing the death of a man for laughs right in front of his corpse. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_c5ef2d50 | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_c601fc37 | type |
Professional Killer | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_c601fc37 | comment |
Professional Killer: Spencer, Boris, and The Plumbers. All are Hitmen rather than Assassins. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_c601fc37 | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_c70907c7 | type |
The Butcher | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_c70907c7 | comment |
The Butcher: Boris Blavasky. In this case, it has a dual meaning — "Butcher" because his work as a spy/hitman is so brutal and messy, but also because "butcher" is actually his day job. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_c75df49a | type |
Shout-Out | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_c75df49a | comment |
Shout-Out: The man disguised as a waiter who approaches Wallace in the end of the film is addressed as "Venkman." When Boris leaves his minions alone with Wallace he instructs them "...and watch that man." — referencing the source material of the film. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_d1affec1 | type |
That Came Out Wrong | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_d1affec1 | comment |
That Came Out Wrong: Boris the Butcher, searching for Wallace backstage where the Russian dancers are setting up, runs into the Camp Gay director. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_d23bc73b | type |
Anonymous Public Phone Call | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_d23bc73b | comment |
Anonymous Public Phone Call: There is an inversion, where a British spy agency sends verbal instructions to their assassins and other agents by calling up a public phone booth at a predetermined time. What sets off the plot is when one of these calls goes wrong: The assassin is a few minutes late, and another guy picks up the phone and mistakes the instructions for part of the experimental LARP session he'd signed up for. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_d23bc73b | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_d397657d | type |
Hoist by His Own Petard | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_d397657d | comment |
Hoist by His Own Petard: Sir Roger and Sergei get blown up by their own bomb. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_d848560f | type |
Unusual Euphemism | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_d848560f | comment |
Unusual Euphemism: In addition to the aforementioned "Remember to flush", there's "Spencer knows how to deal with floaters! Tell him to use a plunger or we're sunk!" | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_d9cf40fa | type |
Screw This, I'm Outta Here | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_d9cf40fa | comment |
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: During the climax, Wallace has the bomb and seems poised to either discover it or prematurely detonate it in full view of the conspirators and dozens of VIPs. Defense Minister Embleton hurriedly flees the ballroom, to the frustration of his conspirators. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_dc579c91 | type |
Contrived Coincidence | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_dc579c91 | comment |
Contrived Coincidence: One right after the other. This movie pretty much runs on it. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_dc579c91 | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_e3d2f2 | type |
The Fool | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_e3d2f2 | comment |
The Fool: Wallace is ditzy enough to accidentally get involved in an international conspiracy without ever realizing what is really going on, and yet he manages to stop the terrorists' plot and avoid getting murdered by a hitman, among other streaks of pure dumb luck. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_e9f517e1 | type |
Artistic License – Geography | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_e9f517e1 | comment |
Artistic License – Geography: Possibly an intentional use: during James' business presentation, the map of Germany is shown. The major cities are labeled... with the names of other German cities. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_ed51d0 | type |
That Russian Squat Dance | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_ed51d0 | comment |
That Russian Squat Dance: Goofier than most actual satires, as Wallace is cradling a bomb disguised as a Matryoshka doll. And manages to disarm it entirely by accident. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_f07450a0 | type |
Balcony Escape | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_f07450a0 | comment |
Balcony Escape: Wallace prefers doing this for the film because its much more dramatic than the more conventional method. Since he isn't that strong, he has trouble doing it. | |
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The Baroness | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_f55d739f | comment |
The Baroness: Dr. Ludmilla Kropotkin averts the superficial aspects of the "evil lady torturer" stereotype. But Wallace's familiarity with that particular trope leads him to mistake the first septuagenarian dominatrix he meets for Dr. Kropotkin. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_f70710ae | type |
Blackmail Backfire | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_f70710ae | comment |
Blackmail Backfire: After learning about their plot due to pillow talk, Hooker with a Heart of Gold Lori is trying to blackmail Embleton and his fellow Spooks about their assassination plot. Predictably, they send an assassin to kill her, but she survives due to Wallace and the assassin accidentally getting each other's instructions. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_f8a82c75 | type |
I Always Wanted to Say That | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_f8a82c75 | comment |
I Always Wanted To Do That: Knocking over traffic cones during a car chase. | |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_f8c6f877 | type |
Anti-Climax Cut | |
The Man Who Knew Too Little / int_f8c6f877 | comment |
Anti-Climax Cut: In one scene, Wallace tells Lori that he's not completely a good guy, that if she wants his help, she'll have to do something for him. The dialogue is set up to make the viewer think Wallace is talking about sex... then the scene cuts to Wallace driving Lori's Mini Cooper. The joke is kind of ruined by the fact that they then have Wallace say, "Thanks for letting me drive." | |
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